Ecclesiastes 1
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Here are the words of the Teacher, the king of Jerusalem, David's son.
2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
“Everything passes—it's so temporary! It's all so hard to understand!” says the Teacher.
3 What profit has a man of all his labor which he takes under the sun?
What benefit do you get for slaving away in this life?
4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes: but the earth stays for ever.
People come, and people go, but the earth lasts forever!
5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to his place where he arose.
The sun comes up, and the sun goes down, and then rushes to its place to rise again.
6 The wind goes toward the south, and turns about to the north; it whirls about continually, and the wind returns again according to his circuits.
The wind blows south, and then turns to the north. Round and round it spins, finally coming full circle.
7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; to the place from where the rivers come, thither they return again.
Streams all flow into the sea, but the sea never becomes full. The streams return to the place from where they came.
8 All things are full of labor; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
Everything just keeps on going. You can't say all there is to say. You can't see all there is to see. You can't hear all there is to hear.
9 The thing that has been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
Everything that was will continue to be; everything that has been done will be done again. Nothing new ever happens here.
10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it has been already of old time, which was before us.
There's nothing anyone can point to and say, “Look! Here's something new.” In fact it's been around for ages, long before our time.
11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
The problem is we don't remember people from the past, and people in the future won't remember those who came before them.
12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I am the Teacher, and I was king over Israel, reigning from Jerusalem.
13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail has God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
I decided to focus my mind to explore, using wisdom, everything that happens here on earth. This is a tough assignment that God has given people to keep them busy!
14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
I examined everything people do here on earth, and discovered that it's all so temporary—trying to understand it is like trying to pin down the wind!
15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
You can't straighten what is twisted, and you can't count what isn't there.
16 I communed with my own heart, saying, See, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yes, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
I thought to myself, “I've become very wise, wiser than all the kings of Jerusalem before me. My mind has gained a great deal of wisdom and knowledge.”
17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
So I decided to use my mind to learn everything about wisdom, and madness and foolishness as well. But I found out that this is as hard as trying to catch hold of the wind.
18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.
For with great wisdom comes great frustration. The greater the knowledge, the greater the pain.
